HiLetgo BTS7960 43A High Power Motor Driver Module/Smart Car Driver Module for Arduino Current Limit

Documentation is slightly lacking. Controls one motor bi-directionally. I used with an Arduino Mega (2 pwm pins, 5v times 3, and GND). I used them for a large robot (IGVC so ~100 lbs) and it worked very well on carpet and pavement but unfortunately the thick grass caused the bridge to eat about 8 out of 12 VDC so the wheels wouldn’t break away. They were undersized for this application but the linearity of operation in both directions is excellent. Had no issues with heat. All 4 came in excellent condition. Great for a medium to small torque application. I’ll find another use for them.

I’ve had no issues and used a few of these controller so far. Currently 2 are running automated gates and have been cycled hundreds of times without failure.

Summing up — This module produces much less heat than competing designs not using MOSFETs. But beware of a potential short-circuit you need to check first. And if you aim to use it at high currents you need to address a manufacturing flaw. As for packaging, an earlier and frequent complaint, it now comes in a sturdy little box at least from this supplier. No more bent pins.MOSFET H-bridges such as the BTS7960 generate much lower heat than more common designs built around BJTs such as the L298. But whatever heat gets generated goes somewhere. Here it flows by way of tiny thru-holes called vias to a large heatsink bolted to the back. These vias are supposed to be filled with solder to provide thermal conductivity. A cute approach, but my module contained only 2 out of 60 intact thermal vias. See photo. This is a serious manufacturing flaw rendering the heatsink completely useless.The second flaw is a potential short. The anodized surface of the heatsink is very thin. This surface broaches easily and can short out the motor terminals because the two chips' metal casings are internally connected to the two output poles. You need to check this before first use.As for the heatsink, at lower currents you can remove it altogether. I did this for a 4A-25W application running at 25kHz PWM frequency.* Hardly any heat. So try this first. You can use the chips as guide because they shut down in case of overheating. This approach takes care of both issues.But if heat is an issue then you have to make repairs. Gently scrape the lacquer off the rectangular areas. Drill out the holes to a slightly larger diameter if you have those skills. Cover the now bare copper surface with solder, making sure to fill up all the vias and keeping the solder surface as level, thin and smooth as possible. Then remount the heatsink with a thermal pad in between to provide electrical insulation, again taking care of both issues.Note that the 43A current limit is lifted from the chips' spec sheet. It requires sufficient cooling. It seems unlikely that even perfectly filled-in vias provide enough heat flow to achieve this number before overheating but it's worth a try. A next step would be to cut out the via rectangles altogether and use copper shims instead. Do remember the electrical insulation.Addressing the module is straightforward. There are plenty of videos and written application notes to show you how. Control signals are wired up with 2.43mm pitch DuPont connectors. The signal pins are marked well. All signals are buffered for isolation and safety, a very nice touch.The screw-type terminals on the power side are solid and adequately sized.Summing up, the major advantage of designs based on MOSFETs is very low heat loss. Indeed, at lower currents this module can be used without a heatsink. And this is a sophisticated chip with built-in overcurrent and overheating protection. Buffering its well-marked control and monitoring signals is an elegant touch. The price is very low for a device with this potential. And you can use it at higher currents after a fix. Subtracting one star for manufacturing flaws._______________* There is an excellent free Arduino library that allows PWM frequencies into high kHz range. (Arduino's standard analogWrite operates around 500Hz.) High PWM frequencies lead to smoother running and eliminate whine with somewhat more switching heat. It’s all a balance. Amazon does not allow external links in its reviews so look for pwm-frequency-library in the official Arduino forum.

If you read reviews; you already know units include bent header pins and overheating issues. However this review will address root cause of fundamental design and manufacturing deficiencies.Header pins are bent because all units are placed directly in ant-stat bag without protection; 80:20 chance you will receive damaged header pin.More seriously are design and manufacturing issues that render device non-functional and limit advertised performance. Design uses BTS7960 IC, which represents good performance H-bridge driver. However PCB design accommodates poor thermal heat transfer mechanism from chip tab to heatsink. PCB uses array of vias to transfer thermal flow to aluminum heatsink. This approach is completely inadequate to remove sufficient energy from chip for operation anywhere close to 43A as advertised. To make things worse, design includes no thermal pad under heatsink to electrically isolate or increase Q-flow. Both units purchased non-functional out of box, with direct short-circuit between motor output terminals. This short-circuit was due to fact heatsink aluminum was bolted down directly against bare PCB vias, without any electrical isolation pad. Apparently designer intended to use aluminum heatsink thin layer of anodized coating to provide reliable electrical isolation between motor outputs (which most likely was sufficient to pass factory testing). This problem can be corrected by adding thermal pad under heatsink. However Q-flow problem is still insufficient to remove energy for full current operation.Solution: Remove both IC's from PCB. Machine two square holes through PCB directly under IC's thermal tab. Place copper heat transfer pads on back of IC's to conduct Q-flow through PCB. Place silicone isolation pad between copper pads and aluminum heatsink. Finally place 50mm fan on threaded spacers directly under heatsink fins using existing PCB mounting holes. Now unit will function as intended.